The steering column for the newly upgraded C-5 reflects that it is the last C-5 Galaxy to receive the Avionics Modernization Program upgrade at Travis Air Force Base, Calif., April 25, 2012. The AMP modifications replace the old analog avionics with a digital avionics suite and add a digital architecture that connects everything. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Nicole Leidholm)
Denny Pyle tests the instrument landing system on the last C-5 Galaxy Avionics Modernization Program prior to its final flight at Travis Air Force Base, Calif., April 24, 2012. The AMP modifications replace the old analog avionics with a digital avionics suite and add a digital architecture that connects everything. Pyle is a Lockheed Martin engineering technician. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Nicole Leidholm)
by Airman 1st Class Nicole Leidholm
60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
5/10/2012 - TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFNS) -- A 1970 C-5A Galaxy was the last C-5A to be converted from a "legacy" C-5 to an Avionics Modernization Program C-5 here May 6.
AMP modifications, the first part of the modernization effort for the C-5, replace the old analog avionics with a digital avionics suite and add a digital architecture that connects everything.
Since June 2005, 38 C-5A and B aircraft were modified at Travis Air Force Base by the Lockheed Martin contract field team as part of a two-phased modernization program.
Travis AFB active duty and Reserve Airmen and Lockheed Martin crews worked hard to update the C-5, said Lt. Col. Robert Griffith, a Defense Contract Monitoring Agency acceptance pilot. The acceptance of the last aircraft went smoothly because of the hard work of all units involved despite runway closures and weather delays, he said.
Throughout the life of the program, there were three aircraft undergoing various stages of the AMP modification at any one time. AMP changes include updates to comply with modern airspace requirements such as a new autopilot, a new communications suite, flat-panel displays, and an enhanced navigation and safety system. The entire system is designed to increase safety, ease crew workload and enhance situational awareness, according to Lockheed Martin officials.
Lockheed Martin crew members stripped approximately 12,000 old wires and put 4,000 new wires in the aircraft while DCMA quality assurance crews, along with acceptance check flight crews, observed work throughout the program.
Performing functional checks on the aircraft is the last stage of the C-5 AMP before sending the aircraft for an actual flight test. Once the acceptance flight crew completes their inspection and the aircraft passes, it is bought back from Lockheed and put back into operational status, said Lt. Col. Tom Corcoran, the government flight representative.
The last tests before the final flight include preflight checks of the new systems. These tests include the ground check of the instrument landing systems and checks of legacy systems disturbed by the AMP modification.
The 60th and 349th Aircraft Maintenance squadrons teamed with the Lockheed workforce every step of the way, providing dual support for seven years, Corcoran said.
"Of the 38 converted aircraft, the 312th (Airlift Squadron) flight tested 33 of them," he said. "(Two) acceptance check flight crews from the 312th flew (more than) 100 sorties testing all aspects of the newly installed cockpit and equipment."
One of the tests, for example, included a near-stall performed in a warning area over the Pacific Ocean, Corcoran said. The goal of the flights was to test warning systems that pilots would never want to hear in normal operations: "too low terrain," "caution obstacle, "and "sink rate-pull up." The ultimate aim of these acceptance check flights was to ensure that the newly modified aircraft were ready to return to daily Air Force operations and perform more effectively and efficiently.
The C-5B aircraft will go to the second phase of the C-5 modernization: the Reliability Enhancement and Re-engining Program. The RERP modifications consist of more than 70 improvements and upgrades to the C-5 airframe and systems. This includes new CF-6 General Electric engines that are less noisy, have more thrust and provide a higher climb rate than allowed by current engines. Once the avionics and engine updates are complete, the aircraft becomes an "M" model.
Comments
5/14/2012 12:40:25 PM ET And DCMA is Defense Contracting Management Agency.
JB, MA
5/11/2012 3:12:25 PM ET remember you can no longer call the flight deck - cockpit either.
mike, NSA Crane
5/11/2012 9:27:09 AM ET Q. How can you tell when a nonner writes the caption for pictures A. They call the yoke a steering column.
